Vows
by Yoseia Nasuka
Summary: What if Sasuke's brother was...SAGARA SANOSUKE? O.O Team 7 follows as Sasuke goes to kill him, but an assassin group is out to kill ALL of them...Kenshin/Naruto crossover. Humor/Everything/Drama o.O;;
1. Sasuke's Vow

Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!! And Kenshin WILL NOT BE USING GOZARU OR ALL OF THOSE OTHER THINGAMABOBBERS(-dono, sessha...)!! It's really annoying!! (Actually, I don't know anything about it, but anyway...)  
  
Uchiha Sasuke. Ambition: To kill his brother. Where is his brother?  
"Kamiya Dojo..." He murmured softly. He felt that Chakra. That Chakra from long ago... As the wind blew, he walked up the stairs. Little did he know that he was being tailed by his teammates and teacher.  
'Why are you here, Naruto?!' Sakura stuck out her tongue.  
'What do you mean why am I here?! To check on baka Sasuke of course!' Naruto whispered back.  
'WHAT?! HOW DARE YO-' Kakashi covered Sakura's mouth.  
'Oh, quiet. Let's see why he's here.' Kakashi said.  
  
"Kaoru, girl, you better take some cooking lessons. I could teach you ya know..." Sanosuke stated, biting a cooked fish. Kaoru got the 'evil eyes'.  
"You bastard Sanosuke! You come here to eat everyday...for FREE! It's bad enough that that annoying VIXEN is busy so she can't take care of you!" Kaoru fiddled madly with some bandage rope, making it twined even more on her fingers. "Stupid! Stupid! Things!! Of course you had to bleed so much that you got an infection! You should know that you should bandage your wounds! What kind of man are you?!"  
"Dammit, it's not my fault I got sick!"  
"I'M SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR EXCUSES!" Kaoru whacked him aside the head.  
"ARGH!!!"  
  
In the courtyard, Kenshin was doing the laundry.  
"Oro...." He went chibified. "Hey Yahiko, your duties starting this early?" He watched as the boy walked across the courtyard.  
"No...I have to buy more bandage rope*Kaoru completely wasted most of it because she couldn't tie the rope right and burned it in a fit of rage*..."  
"I HEARD THAT!"  
"Crap." Kenshin stared as Yahiko ran.  
  
'Someone...is coming.' Sasuke thought. He was correct when a boy came out. He gazed at Sasuke.  
"Hey, who are you?" He asked, as though people showing up was a bad thing *which is usually was...*.  
"Uchiha Sasuke." He answered bluntly.  
  
This made Yahiko very suspicious.  
'Most of the time, guests give a reason, or question, like 'Is this person here?'...I don't like this guy already.' He questioned again.  
  
"Why are you here?"  
'Damned questions..ah well. If he's a friend of his...'Sasuke took into a pre-offensive position.  
"To kill a man named....  
  
"Oops, too hard.." Kaoru stared down at the faintly 'ow'ing Sanosuke.  
  
Who...?  
This voice..?  
I know this voice, don't I...?  
Yes...who?  
Brother?  
Yes...  
U...  
Uchi...?  
Uchiha..Clan...  
The...past....  
I almost....forgot....  
Ki? No...  
Chakra...hm.  
He's trained.  
...Yahiko?  
...kill me?  
...Yahiko...  
...killed..  
KILLED!?  
WHAT THE *CENSORED*?!  
I GOTTA *CENSORED* SAVE THAT *CENSORED* BRAT FROM MY *CENSORED* BROTHER!  
YAHIKO!!!  
  
Sanosuke's eyes popped open. Kaoru froze in shock as he jumped up and ran...er...stumbled as fast as he could.  
"What...about...the wounds..." She uttered meekly, hairs sticking out.  
  
"...Sanosuke. I know he's here." Sasuke replied.  
'What?' Sakura wondered.  
'So he didn't mean me that time...' Naruto whispered.  
'Keep your chakras low you two.' Kakashi lowered their heads as a bonus.  
"Sanosuke?! Why in the world would you want to kill Sanosuke?!" Yahiko readied postion too. 'Even if he's a bastard and all that...'  
"I have no desire to tell you."  
"Well I won't allow you to do that!" Yahiko looked him up and down. Strong figure, a pretty strong ki, but nothing Sanosuke couldn't handle. But as Sanosuke was sick AND wounded, this Uchiha Sasuke dude would win. The boy ran fast, but with the help of the training from the residents of the Kamiya Dojo, Yahiko ran and jumped, hitting Sasuke with his wooden sword. Sasuke pulled back and threw some shurikens. Yahiko dodged, but was hit by Sasuke's leg. Yahiko, now spitting a little blood, then elbowed Sasuke in the mouth, which caused him to drip a little too. Sasuke then rolled back, and put both his hands together, index and middle fingers pointing upwards. Sanosuke came to the entrance.  
"That brat, he wouldn't..!!"  
"GOUKAKYUU..."  
'I have to do this quick!' Sanosuke began a seal.  
"NO....JUTSU!!!" Yahiko froze as he saw the tremendous ball of fire heading toward him. He was even more surprised as he saw Sanosuke run in front of him.  
"No, SANOSUKE!" He cried, ashen.  
"WATER EXPLOSION NO JUTSU!!" Sanosuke shouted forcefully.  
'Eh?!' Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi watched as the water burst up into a dragon shape and took on the fireball. Both cancelled each other out. Sasuke was merely surprised. He made another fireball in split second, and fired. What he WAS surprised about was when Sanosuke dropped, and Yahiko catched him.  
"Sanosuke, you idiot! You shouldn't be moving around! Didn't Megumi tell you that?!" Yahiko shook him desperately.  
"Hey hey, quit it would ya? I'm dieing from food poisoning anyway..." He looked up, seeing the on coming ninjutsu. "YAHIKO WATCH OU-!" As Sanosuke threw Yahiko into the pond, he saw the on coming fireball getting very close.  
  
"Demonic...Ice...Mirrors...!!" He barely whispered, making a chill.  
'WHAT THE...?!!!' The Team #7 gaped.  
"But only Haku knew tha-!!!" Naruto jumped up, and saw Sasuke staring down at him with those freaky Sharingan. "Eehhh...."  
  
"DOBE! Why are you here?!" Sasuke yelled, irritated.  
"Why do you THINK I'm here, ya bastard?!!" Naruto pointed at Sasuke, just as irritated. "I should be asking you that!"  
"You'll get in the way!"  
"You're one to be talking!" They kept bickering. You could tell the Mirrors weren't as strong as Haku's though, because they melted away after taking out most of the fire.  
"SANOSUKE!" Yahiko rushed over as Sanosuke's arm got burned. The two stopped bickering.  
"Argh! Hey, ya little twerp, I thought you couldn't swim?" Sanosuke choked.  
"Sanosuke you bastard, this is no time to be joking around!"  
"Yeah yeah yeah...." At this, he fainted again. Yahiko looked up at Sasuke, emotion blinding over his eyes quickly. He jumped, and struck Sasuke on the head. Sasuke rolled down from the tree in shock.  
'Pft. He's gotten stronger when he's emotional. Guess I'll kick things up a notch. He twisted with a higher level of speed, and with a couple of kunais pinned Yahiko to a tree. He then threw a shuriken. However....  
  
*CLANG*  
Sasuke stared as a red-headed man came and blocked the shuriken with his sword. To make that shuriken clatter to the ground harmlessly...that was impossible with a mere sword! He put Chakra in that Evil Wind shuriken. ...And a reversed sword at that!  
"Yahiko, are you okay?" The swordsman spoke, facing Sasuke.  
"Hey! Kenshin!" Yahiko grinned. "Aren't I always?! And that bastard Sanosuke's kinda drained. I think he needs your help." This 'Kenshin' smiled. Sasuke narrowed his eyes.  
"He'll never accept help from me. Get yourself off that tree, Yahiko," Kenshin took a readying position. "because I have to deal with this newcomer."  
  
"No you don't." Sasuke said. "This is none your business. THIS IS BETWEEN ME AND ANIKI!" His pupils changed into the legendary Sharingan. "I have vowed to kill Sanosuke ever since the fall of the Uchiha Clan, and I live up to my vows." Kenshin narrowed his eyes. But it was Naruto who retorted faster.  
"WHAT THE *CENSORED*??!! You came here all the way without telling us just to kill someone?!" Naruto screeched like a banshee.  
"I didn't tell you because you'd get in the way, dobe." Sasuke replied in monotone. Naruto went on a rampage. Kenshin ignored this and sighed.  
  
"Promises must never be broken, right? Is that what you think?" He asked. "I am not saying it's wrong, in fact, it is completely right." He glared at Sasuke. "But do you really want to kill your brother? Is there a something so horrible that you want to kill Sanosuke? Well, you will have to get by me." He charged quickly. Sasuke anticipated it, but was shocked that he couldn't even see the blade aiming for his shoulder until it was a centimeter away. It stopped. It stopped?!  
  
"I can't have you killing my student like that." A man held the blade. Kenshin was surprised. Only ones from the Edo Era had this kind of speed.  
"What made you think I would kill him?" He then showed his blade to the inspecting man.  
"Ah. A reversed blade sword I see. Although..." He trailed the blade with his finger, making it hover just over it. "I also see that it is glazed with a chemical." He was right. Kenshin's sword had a shiny substance applied to it.  
"Very good eye...oro..."  
"Kakashi."  
"Kakashi-san." He smiled. "You thought it was poison?"  
"..."  
"I suppose you did. But as sword lore goes..." He twisted his sword. "I cannot kill with it. This was merely a paralysis solution." Then his eyes hardened. "And still with the vow that _I_ made never to kill again, I cannot have any of you kill Sanosuke without beating me." He was about to charge when...  
  
"KENSHIN! YOU DIDN'T FINISH THE LAUNDRY!!" An angry banshee screech rang out from the dojo.  
"Oro..." He sweatdropped. Kaoru stomped out.  
"SANOSUKE, WHERE ARE YOU?!" She spotted Yahiko. "Yahiko, WHAT are YOU DOING pinned by KUNA-" She stopped. "Where DID they come from anyways?"  
"Hey, you old hag, analyze the situation a little bit, would ya?"  
"WHY YOU!!" She shrieked. "YOU'RE STAYING on that TREE, you got THAT?!!" Yahiko stuck out his tongue. Then she turned to Kenshin. "Now, Kenshin." She held up a bucket full of clothes, smiling too sweetly. "You have another bucket to do." Massive facevaults.  
"Bu-But Kaoru..."  
"Don't 'but' me! _I_ have to find Sanosuke."  
"YOU OLD HAG, HE'S RIGHT HERE!"  
"Yaaahiiikkoooo...!!" Kaoru and Yahiko glared at each other dangerously for some moments. Bzzt.  
  
"Hey girl, you're a little thick today, aren't you?" A dull voice stated.  
"SANOSUKE!!" Kaoru stomped over, and then realized something odd. She lifted his arm delicately. "Where'd you get this burn?"  
"Ya see, hag? I told ya to analyze the situation." Yahiko stuck out his tongue.  
"You shut up! That's no way to talk to your teacher!!" Now she FINALLY FOUND the Ninjas. "Wai! I'm so embarrassed!." They sweatdropped and stared.  
"I'm sorry, I have some ties with HIM." Sasuke eyed Sanosuke, who glared back.  
"Oh oh! Of course! I heard that the shop has another employee! You must be him!" She shuffled through where she keeps her money. "I am TERRIBLY sorry, Sanosuke almost never pays, like a barbarian I say-"  
"Hey!" Sanosuke objected. Kaoru stuck out her tongue.  
"Anyways, how much does he owe?"  
"......." They stared at her again.  
  
"Sanosuke did all of that?!" Kaoru gasped. Or rather, gritted. Sasuke told her the story of the Uchiha Clan. She finished pouring the tea and layed out some food. The shinobis thanked her and began eating.  
"Yes." Sasuke replied.  
"Ugh, this food is horrible..." Naruto grimaced. Sakura hit him. "OWWW!! What was that for?!"  
"Don't talk to her like that! You should be happy you even got food!" Sakura scolded, and tried the fish. She wrinkled her face. "...is this fermented fish?"  
"See, I told you your cooking was horrible." A bland voice spoke up.  
"Sanosuke!" Kaoru slapped a paper fan on his head.  
"Hey!" Sanosuke fell from his leaning position to an ungraceful one sprawled on the floor.  
"You were told to get bedrest by that vixen slut! You are in NO condition to be commenting on my cooking!" She held the paper fan up dangerously.  
"Hey! It's true! Your food is MAKING me need bedrests, tanuki-girl!" Sanosuke grumbled.  
"OKAY! THAT'S IT!" Kaoru began throwing random objects at Sanosuke. Sanosuke grabbed Kenshin and used him as a shield.  
"Oro. Oro! Orooo...!" The swirly eyed samurai got no mercy.  
"Oi, Kaoru dudette, you're hitting the wrong dude there..." Naruto pointed out.  
"Erk!" She stared at what she did.  
"Oroooooooo......"  
'This woman is kinda...Narutoish.' Team 7 thought.(besides Naruto of course) 


	2. Sanosuke's Vow

I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG FOR ME TO UPDATE  
SEE, MY FILES GOT WIPED OFF (ALL ((about)) 5400 KILOBYTES) SO THEN I HAD TO RETYPE EVERYTHING AND SO BUT I ACTUALLY HAD A _LOT_ OF THIS WAITING FOR YOU (meticulously revised) AND MANY OF YOU KNOW I HAVE MANY MORE FANFICS (Thank you all for your support) SO UNFORTUNATELY THIS IS NOT AS GOOD AS WHAT I USED TO HAVE (characters aren't exactly in character) BUT PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE READ THIS~~~!!!!  
  
  
Megumi sighed and walked up the steps. She had finally checked the last patient, and was going up the steps of the Kamiya dojo, her basket of treats that she had made earlier in her hands. The boys will probably be DIEING by now for acceptable food. She swished back the front paper doors of the dojo, expecting serene peace surrounding Ken-san doing the laundry. Uh uh. That's not going to happen today.  
  
"SASUKE!! YOU BASTARD!! BASTARDBASTARDBASTARD!!" A boy was shouting over and over and over.  
"Shut up, dobe." The supposedly named Sasuke said scornfully. The golden haired boy flew in a rage and started fighting Sasuke.  
  
Huh. Quite odd.  
  
"Hey Kenshin, you shouldn't be doing the laundry right now." Sano said to Ken-san drunkedly, pointing his sake bottle at Ken-san, who was indeed, doing the laundry again. Sano went back to watching the two boys. "Huh. Naruto's pretty bad..."  
  
"Pure white!!" Ken-san said happily, holding up a clean blanket. "Oro?" Naruto's foot jammed into Ken-san's face. "Orrroooo....!" Ken-san fell into the washing basket.  
"AWGH!! SORRY!" Naruto paled as he bounced off Ken-san and slammed into the paper sliding door. Sasuke sighed.  
"Dobe." He turned to Sano, who stared back at him lazily. Sasuke charged. Sano blocked with ease using the sake bottle. Cuffing Sasuke, he then tipped some sake into Sasuke's mouth.  
"Loosen up, Sa-chan." Sasuke struggled and coughed out.  
"Do not call me Sa-chan." His face turned red after he drained the bottle. A man with grayish hair covering his left eye sat in a tree branch, reading a book and then shouted,  
  
"The boy's drunk, Sanosuke." The man sweatdropped when Sanosuke stuck his finger up and shouted,  
"I don't give a damn!"  
"..." He stared. Sano proceeded to drink.  
"I see you are too." The man went back to his book.  
  
Kaoru didn't seem to be the type who let a man who read 'Come Come Paradise' in her dojo. In fact, here she was now.  
  
"SANO! DID YOU MAKE HIM DRUNK _AGAIN_??!!" She turned her head to the Naruto looking sheepishly at the hole in the paper sliding door. Her veins popped and she pointed to both Naruto, Yahiko, and the guy in the tree. "NARUTO! KAKASHI! YAHIKO! YOU ALL ARE FIXING THAT DOOR!"  
"Bu-"  
"Don't but me! That's the tenth time you've broken that door, Naruto!" Naruto glanced upwards sheepishly.  
"Hag." Yahiko scoffed.  
  
WHAM  
  
"He had that coming..." Kakashi sighed. Naruto waved down at the Yahiko shaped hole.  
"...." Kenshin peeked from the washing bin. "Oh! Megumi-san!" He smiled. Everybody noticed her for the first time.  
  
Slow fools.  
  
"Megumi! Finally, you're here! I've been taking care of Sanosuke for WAY TOO LONG!" She threw a dirty glance at him.  
"More like poisoning me-" The Zanza was silenced by a fan smacked in his face. Megumi sighed.  
"Well then, a couple more minutes couldn't hurt, could it?" She met by a glare. The doctor ignored this and continued. "I have more important things to do, like seeing to it that no one else gets _poisoned_." She smiled with that fox look at Kaoru, who flared.  
"GET OUT TRAMP! NOW!"  
  
~*~  
  
"Eh...I heard herbal medicines are best for headaches due to liquor." Sakura inquired hesistantly. She watched as Kaoru swung the paper doors for the medicinal cabinet her family dojo contained and dumped random herbs into the water. Sakura sweatdropped. The kendoka girl handed Sakura a cup of the tea, and she recoiled. Not particularly sure it was quite SAFE, Sakura hesistantly turned to Sasuke.  
"Ah, Sasuke-ku-" She was talking to thin air.  
  
"I...saw you destroy the clan. Everyone...their dieing words were-" Sasuke's voice was unnormally painful as he threw six kunais with a perfect swing. Sanosuke grabbed them all and pinned Sasuke's collar to the ground with one grabbed kunai in his hand.  
"Sa. Chan." The Zanza emphasized. Veins popped in both of them.  
"Don't call me Sa-chan, I'll kill you!" This went on for a while.  
  
WHACK  
  
"OW." They more or less shouted in unison. Kaoru stood menacingly above them.  
"Sa...." She fumed. Sanosuke 'oh'ed silently. Sasuke looked away. "WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?!!" Kaoru slammed the two cups home on the floor. They recoiled, faces twitching.  
"..." Was what they were thinking. "Well?" The two brothers picked up a cup. The Zanza, with much more experience with Kaoru's tea, waited for Sasuke to try first. He did. It wasn't pretty.  
  
"This SUCKS!!" Naruto ripped the paper that was supposed to mend the door. "Kakashi-sensei!! Why aren't you helping?!!" Kakashi looked down.  
"Oh, I'm supposed to? Alright I'll be there in just a second."  
"Wha-HEY! YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!!"  
Kakashi just whistled.  
  
"I see...so that's what happened." Megumi said thoughtfully. "So today Sanosuke's going to tell the truth?"  
"It seems that way." Kenshin nodded.  
'The idiot...only he would have made a bet like that...' She thought scornfully, her mind taking in the fact Sano had gambled his life with an active shinobi. She shuddered to think if someone who was trying to murder her lived with her too.  
  
"Sasuke-kun? SASUKE-KUN?! ANSWER ME!!" Sakura shook Sasuke's clothes rapidly, crying. Sanosuke scratched his head.  
"It wasn't my fault."  
  
~*~  
  
Sanosuke sighed.  
"I really don't want to tell everyone this..." He mumbled. He had almost, ALMOST forgotten his past but oh no, Sa-chan had to come and ruin it all. '...Sa-chan...' He walked in and sat down with the group. Or rather, he fell down with the melee.  
"Sanooooo!! You're LATE!!" Kaoru waved around the hishima(paper fan) that she slapped him down with menacingly. Kenshin was chatting with Megumi, who served her food in small platters on purpose. The Team 7 and Yahiko made a neverending cycle.  
Team 7 eats ravenously, while Yahiko takes some from the bigger stash found behind Megumi.  
Naruto and Sasuke eye the last takoyaki. Naruto makes a grab for it, but trips and falls and watches Sasuke take the takoyaki.  
"GIVE THAT TO ME!"  
"...no!" They start fighting for the last takoyaki.  
Yahiko joins to get his revenge on Sasuke who tried to kill him.  
However, Kakashi comes up with a clever solution by eating the takoyaki himself.  
"KAKASHI-SENSEI~~!!!" Naruto shouts angrily. Sasuke glares, and refuses the food that Sakura offers.  
Megumi brings in more.  
This happens all over again.  
In the end, they never heard Sanosuke's story.  
  
~*~  
  
"Sure, whap a guy to the ground and don't even hear the story..." Sanosuke grumbled to himself, walking through the courtyard with the usual fishbone stuck in his mouth. "...?" He looked to see Sasuke, sitting on the roof. He went to join Sa-chan with a gentle leap.  
"I...want to kill you." Sasuke turned around, his Sharingan showing. "I...need to..." His eyes tensed. Sanosuke sighed. If there was one thing which kept Sanosuke unbruised, it would have been Sa-chan's hidden conscience.  
"Why don't you try?" Sanosuke grinned. "You know you couldn't really kill me."  
"....!!!" At this, Sasuke charged. Then stopped. "See Sa-chan?" Sanosuke put his index and middle finger together and poked Sasuke sharply on the head. "I've been telling you ALL THE TIME. I. Didn't. KILL THEM~~~~!!!" Sanosuke screamed this, shaking the entire dojo and six blocks around it.  
"KEEP IT DOWN YOU BASTARD SANOSUKE~~~!!" Yahiko's voice added the second tremor. Sanosuke put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and pushed him down into a sitting position.  
"Listen, Sa-chan." Sasuke backhanded him.  
"Don't be kidding me." He glared. Sanosuke sighed. As Sasuke was walking away, the Zanza stated loudly to him,  
"How would you like to know how Mother committed suicide and killed your father?" Sasuke turned around with wide eyes.  
"Heh. Thought so." Sanosuke spit out his fishbone. "Just listen this once, would you?"  
"..." Sasuke walked closer to his brother, and listened closely, sitting down next to his brother.  
  
"Isn't that sweet..." Sakura whispered happily.  
"Bah." Naruto humphed. 'What am I doing anyway? Eavesdropping on Sasuke...' He reddened. "Oh well..."  
  
And so, the story began.  
  
~*~  
  
The end of the chapter!! ...Is what I would have said. But, look! To compensate for the lost time, there is *drumroll* TWICE AS MUCH STORY!!  
  
~*~  
  
"You know, Sasuke, that your mother was part of the Uchiha Clan, and my father was not? Heh, he wasn't even a shinobi! Since the Uchiha Clan was strict about these rules, I could not enter the Hidden Leaf Village without being confined to one small playground for kids." Sanosuke stared up at the sky, recalling these memories.  
  
"A playground?" Naruto whispered to himself with 'cynical' lacing his voice. 'A PLAYGROUND?!'  
  
Sasuke watched as his oniisan gazed mindlessly into the sky, knowing that he must be remembering one certain memory...  
And indeed he was.  
  
~*~  
  
"Sano-nichan! Sano-nichan!!" Four year old Sasuke came running up to the half Uchiha member. "I thought you were going to help me with shuriken throwing today?" Sanosuke looked at him, and smiled. Sasuke, on the other hand, pouted confusedly.  
"You think they'd let me near one of those things, Sasuke?" He laughed. "You know, they always said you reap what you sow, it's their fault they made it so they thought I have a huge grudge on them." He took one look at Sasuke's crestfallen face. This changed his decision. "Hey, hey, lean in a little closer." Sasuke did as he was told. "How about th-"  
"SANOSUKE!!" The nine year old child was hit in the back with a pot.  
"Wh-wha-!!" He turned around abruptly. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" He turned to face another Uchiha member.  
"Stop brainwashing the poor boy! You filthy, filthy-!!" The villager Namari shrieked.  
"What's the commotion?" Mother had come to check it out. She was greeted with a slap.  
"It's all your fault!! Not only is your son transferring his horrid traits to everyone else's children-"  
"Except you, since you got none." Sanosuke grumbled quietly.  
"-he's doing the same thing to your OTHER son! It's all because of you, and your bastard of a love-" She was cut short by Sanosuke, knowing that he couldn't hit her, shouting:  
"YOU'RE ALL A BUNCH OF STODGY UPTIGHT BITCHES YOURSELVES, COMMITTING INCEST INSTEAD!!" This crumbled the the 40 year old woman.  
"He-you-Where did he learn this kind of language?!" She shrieked at the poor mother. Sanosuke 'humph'ed, while Sasuke was inquiring was 'incest' was.  
"Sano-nichan, Sa-" He was tugging on Sanosuke's shirt when all of a sudden he was dragged away.  
  
~*~  
  
"I...would rather you not recall that, aniki." Sasuke sweatdropped.  
"Damned, discriminating crimes..." Sanosuke muttered. "Well, in the end, Mother couldn't stand it, and neither could Namari." He looked to Sasuke. "Don't you understand? Namari was the one who killed half the Uchiha Clan!"  
  
~*~  
  
"Fools!! Letting you in this place was a complete wretched mistake!!" Namari whispered with intensity to Sanosuke, gripping his shoulders tightly as if hoping he would be squeezed to death if she did. "I shall slaughter the entire clan-and you shall be reason!! The reason!!" She let go one of her hands and, laughing maniacally, stabbed the sleeping person next to her, who was never to wake up again.  
"No...!" He watched, helpless on the roof, watching Namari with emotion filled eyes, not knowing whether to laugh at those who had tried to lynch him, or be sad for them being killed, or be scared from the dire consequences of these actions once Namari accused him of blame. Under the moon, his shaded face and mind knew only two things. The hate...  
  
"NAMARII~~~!!!" He screamed on top of his lungs, but no one heard him, since they had a festival and she put sleeping pills in the drinks. Oh yes, the hate, but also...  
  
He made a dash to his should have been home.  
"SASUKE! SASUKE!!" He desperately tried to wake the boy up. "SA-CHAN!!" Grinding his teeth, he did the only thing he could do. He ran. Sanosuke dropped the boy right outside the village, and hurried back in to find Namari before she was done.  
When he found her, she was dead.  
"Sa..no..." His mother was staggering towards him. "...my...child..." She half embraced, half collapsed on the boy. "The..prod..ct..." She coughed. "...of my... foolishness. I...am....sorry." She shed tears, and was once again on her move. Sanosuke, shaken, picked up the scroll she dropped. He read it. And dashed to his house.  
  
I am Juliet. The Juliet with two Romeos.  
The Juliet without consent for her children to be alive.  
  
Already, his mother returned to her home.  
  
I am the Juliet, but oh, such an uncourageous Juliet!  
  
She staggered, clamoring her way into the bedroom.  
  
For I did not fake death, not even to save my spawn,  
Even though I am forgotten! Oh woe!  
Be I, the wretched Juliet. Shall I die alone?  
  
She grabbed a kunai.  
  
But I, the wronged, the wanting Juliet, have come  
To take away my Romeo. My Romeo must never leave!  
For I shall be with him, side by side, until the day we die.  
  
She gazed at her husband, the father of Sasuke. She killed him.  
  
I, Juliet, have come to take away my Romeo!  
No matter how wronged I was,  
This is the course we must take!  
  
The blood splattered all over. She raised the kunai again.  
  
For he is Romeo, and I his Juliet,  
By all thy means, we are  
  
"MOTHER~~~~~!!!" He screamed, agonized.  
  
Inseparable.  
I am sorry, my illborn child. My child of my first Romeo  
The...Romeo who took away half my heart and left...  
  
"...sano-..nichan?"  
  
I am so sorry.  
  
"Sa-chan!" Sanosuke whirled to see the tear-stained face of Sasuke.  
"I...saw...you out there." Sanosuke was bewildered. How..? Wasn't that...?! "...Namari-san, she...told me what happened...right before she died."  
It came to Sanosuke in one instant. But...there was no use reasoning with Sasuke. Stubborn. That's what Sasuke was. So stubborn...and weak. Sanosuke watched as Sasuke passed out with his mixed emotions of grief, hatred, and disbelief.  
"Namari..." Sanosuke seethed. He ran outside to find the dead Namari. He stabbed the corpse, and it dissapated into leaves. "You...and your genjutsu are going to hell..!! The Sharingan burned, and the leaves crumbled.  
And still, in Sasuke's dreams lived Namari's genjutsu.  
  
~*~  
  
"Of course, I had to flee after that." Sanosuke gripped Sasuke's hand tightly. "I tried so hard to find that Namari, but in the end I found out that some Hunter-nins had killed her. After many problems, I wound up here, stuck with a legendary idiotic hitokiri rurouni, a rurouni wannabe, a vixen, and a woman who can't cook. The Meijin government around here doesn't really like shinobis, so I haven't used jutsu for awhile. Basically all you wanted to know right?" The Zanza looked at his otouto, noticing the water-filled eyes he had, but never leaked out to tears. 'Heh, a little stronger than before...' Sanosuke smiled.  
"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"  
"??!!" The two Uchiha brothers swirled around to find two crying ninjas.  
"Sa-sasuke-kun~~!! I didn't know~~!!" Sakura wailed.  
"~~~~~~" Said Naruto. Sasuke twitched to see them like that, especially Naruto. And the fact they heard that memory.  
"Sakura! Dobe! You were listening?!"  
"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!" Cried Sakura. Naruto dried his eyes and nodded. After that, his head met a kunai.  
"OW?! SASUKE YOU BASTARD, I JUST WANTED TO ASK SANOSUKE A QUESTION!" He pointed a finger accusingly.  
"What would that be?" The man asked.  
"Um...eh....uh....How'd he learn that special jutsu Haku used?" Naruto, recently thinking of it, asked.  
"Yeah, didn't Kakashi-sensei say that even he couldn't copy it, and it ran in Haku's Advanced blood?" Sakura was still wiping her eyes as she said this.  
"...I don't wanna answer that question." Sanosuke walked away.  
"H-hey?! NO! ANSWER IT!! COME BACK HERE!!" Naruto ran after him. Sanosuke immediately realized it would have been impossible to shake him off.  
"Fine then! It took me awhile to learn it. I met Haku while we were both fleeing from one thing and another. Zabuza didn't seem to mind once Haku told him he was sure about... Hmm...about something. He never said." Sanosuke's eyes drifted up. "It was like a telepathy thing they had going on..."  
  
"...You heard all that, Kenshin?" Kakashi asked, leaning against the dojo.  
"Yes. I never knew Sano had such a hard life. It makes me wonder Kakashi-dono."  
"Heh. Try yourself, Hitokiri Battousai."  
"Hehe, maybe." Kenshin laughed, and looked at his feet. Four shurikens were between his toes. "Oro?!" He was stupified as more came to surround him. "Oro!!" He looked up to see Sasuke looking over from the roof.  
"...Kenshin?" The rurouni smiled nervously. "Kakashi?!"  
"Sorry, got lost, wandered here." He waved. Sanosuke and Team 7's faces went ' =_= ' "Does Sanosuke here still have his mother's scroll?"  
"Yeah, why?"  
"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go back to the Hidden Leaf Village, Uchiha Sanosuke." A mixture of weird faces came up. Sanosuke grinned, and fold his arms.  
"I'm not 'Uchiha Sanosuke' anymore. I don't wanna go back anyway! From now on for your reference, I am 'Sagara Sanosuke'!" He looked down to Kenshin, who smiled.  
"Well, welcome, Sagara Sanosuke." Kenshin said.  
"Yeah! As a welcoming gift, why don't you come with me to the gambling hall? I feel like winning again!" The smile on Kenshin's face froze. The rurouni sweatdropped while Sanosuke dragged him off.  
"O, oro, Sano, wait~~~! Oroooo~~~!!"  
' =_= ' said Team 7.  
"I am ASHAMED that I called him aniki today!!" Sasuke stomped off.  
"No, you mean 'Sano-niichan'~~~!!" Naruto grinned, following Sasuke. They started to get smaller, and closer to the horizon.  
"Shut up!"  
"SANO-NIICHAN~~~! WHAT DOES I-OW!!"  
"Dobe!!" The sounds of fighting began.  
  
And Haku watched it all from his place in heaven, smiling. 


	3. Aoshi's Vow

Naruto opened his eyes and stretched. It wasn't exactly early in the morning, as the blazing sun sent its rays penetrating through the paper door, filling what was the guest room with light. He looked to his side, and asked with a bland tone,  
"What are you brooding about, Sasuke?"  
"...shut up dobe." The black haired Uchiha turned on his side, his back facing Naruto. The NineTails keeper half sighed, half grumbled. He fell back onto his futon, and put his hands behind his head.  
"Well, there goes your life's ambition. What are we doing here now, Mr. I-got-my-revenges-mixed-up?"  
"..."  
  
Naruto wasn't helping Sasuke at all. The embarrassment and shame from deeply trying to kill an innocent man was enough, but also his brother? To think that he couldn't see through a genjutsu that Sakura most likely could in an instant, and live without doubting anything Namari told him pained him.  
"In any case, we should go back to the village, right? What's the use staying here? What are YOU going to do now?" The damned guy doesn't know when to shut up.  
But there was truth to this. He had never thought of what to do once his revenge was over. There was this...vacancy. Yes, that vacancy in his heart. It felt like the importance of his existance was cut in half.  
"I don't know, dobe." This statement turned out more harsh than he intended it too. He felt Naruto recoil in his bones. Despite the warmth of the sun in the room, Sasuke shivered.  
  
~*~  
  
Kenshin fell into the washing bucket for the fifth time that morning.  
"Kenshin, what's wrong with you today?" Sano asked.  
"Oro, I just feel kind of tired and dizzy." Kenshin said, smiling as to shrug it off.  
"What? Was it because the amount of money we won yesterday was so staggering?"  
"I rather think it's because we stayed up till 3:00 in the morning gambling, Sano." Kenshin sweatdropped.  
"Impossible! I've never heard of such a thing!" Sano replied haughtily. Kenshin 'o_o()'ed.  
"The idiot is never tired." Came a smooth voice from the tree.  
"Hey! That was NOT appreciated!!" Sano pointed an accusing finger at Kakashi, who was immersed in his book. Kenshin chuckled to himself. "In fact, we won alot of money!"  
  
"Just don't win tramps next time, alright?" Kaoru stepped out to the courtyard, emphasizing the word 'tramps' with a meaningful glance at Megumi. "In any case, why are you all still staying here, Kakashi-san?"  
"Only in the face of danger and aniki will Sasuke open his feelings." Kakashi pointed out cryptically. "How fast depends on Sasuke."  
"What? I've turned him into a really weird angst-filled guy like Aoshi is what you're saying, isn't it?" Sano accused.  
"...I take offense to that."  
  
Misao stared at the surprised group with her hands on her hips, and surpressed a smile. Aoshi-sama always had that kind of effect. Although she really didn't think that rooster-head would have been that surprised. She watched has Sanosuke kept his eyes bulging.  
"....hwaawawawawa....!!" The man sputtered.  
"Ah! Welcome, Aoshi-san, Misao!" Kaoru gave a bright smile, as did Kenshin. Their trust had developed over a very small period of time, considering just a couple months ago they couldn't even stay with Aoshi-sama without battering each other to death. Of course, Sanosuke's trust was still out there to win.  
"Why do you keep turning up here unexpected and uninvited? Didn't you know that's not courteous?!" Sanosuke pointed a finger at Aoshi. Misao stuck her tongue out.  
"Not very convincing coming from you, is it now?" An unfamiliar voice drawled from the branches above Misao's head.  
"Are you picking a fight, Kakashi?!" Sanosuke shook his fist at the man in the tree, his other hand on his forearm. Misao went forward enough to see this 'Kakashi' take a look at Sanosuke, and go back to his book.  
"...I don't need to pick one, since you're the one picking it anyway."  
"..." The Zanza let this soak in. "I'll beat you to the ground!!"  
"What spirit. Well, don't go crying once you lose okay?" The man chuckled, at his book or Sanosuke, Misao couldn't tell.  
"I'LL RIP THAT COME COME PARADISE FROM YOUR HANDS RIGHT NOW, KAKASHI!!"  
  
...  
Come Come Paradise?  
  
"KYAA! IT'S A PERV!" Misao pointed accusingly. Kakashi sweatdropped. Sanosuke stopped his oncharge.  
"You know what that book is?"  
"Of course! It's absolutely famous for being a really really perverted book! Didn't you know that? Are you dead or something?"  
"WHAT? Kakashi, who are you to talk about others when you're reading a dirty book?!"  
"At least I'm not an idiot, like two certain people below me." The veins popped. The earth shook. And the ears died.  
  
"SHUT UP WILL YAAA~~?!" Yahiko and Naruto came falling out of the dojo, through the door and covering their ears. Misao looked over.  
"Ah! Yahiko! Hey!" The face of Misao was then blocked by Kaoru. Paper fan in hand, Kaoru stared down at them hard.  
"NAAAAARRUUUUTOOOO~~~~~~~~~~!!!" What left the ears just died right then.  
"Aw man! Not again?!" Naruto grabbed his head with his hands, his head hit by paper fan and paper roll. "Sorry?! I mean, this has to be the millionth I'm going to fix that door.  
"IT'S YOUR OWN FAULT FOR RIPPING IT EVERY SINGLE TIME! YAHIKO! COME BACK HERE!"  
"~~~~~~~~~~"  
  
Sasuke finally felt okay enough to get out of bed. After he cleaned up, he saw the now familiar hole in the door being fixed.  
"This is not fair, not fair at all-"  
"I mean, it's not our fault other people are idiots-"  
"Yeah, that's great. Why did she make me help too?!" An unfamiliar voice spoke in annoyance. Something about that voice sounded...so oddly familiar. Sasuke opened the undamaged half of the door, revealing Naruto squinting at a girl. Something in Naruto's head clicked, apparently.  
"YOU LOOK LIKE HAKU! THAT'S IT!" The boy shoved his finger at her. "I KNEW I saw you from somewhere!!"  
"...Haku?" Sasuke inquired.  
"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise. "Doesn't Misao look alot like Haku? Right? Right?!" Misao was the girl, Sasuke guessed.  
"I never really saw Haku's face." Sasuke admitted in a small voice. Naruto stared at him quirkly. "Although I have to admit that she does sound like him."  
"See? See?!"  
"WHAT?! I DO NOOOT sound like a guy! In fact, many guys have tripped over my voice, thank you very much!" Misao put a hand to her chest indignantly.  
"Well, yeah, Haku was really girl like in a way..." Naruto grumbled, and-wait, was Sasuke seeing right?-he reddened slightly. "I mean, for one thing, he was alot nicer AND cuter than YOU most definitely!"  
"WHAT?! Alright, now that's just crossing the line!" Yahiko looked in dismay as the two wrestled through the paper door which he just fixed.  
"Ungirllike ninja wanna-be-"  
"Gay hero wanna-be-"  
"IDIOTS WHO JUST RIPPED THROUGH THE DOOR AGAIN!"  
"..." They got themselves out of the hole they just made and the duo stared at it, faces reading '=_='.  
"Three dobes." Sasuke sighed.  
"WHAAT?!" They gave extreme anger looks to Sasuke, who stared back.  
"Who are YOU to call me an idiot?!" Misao pointed accusingly.  
"Who was the bastard who tried to kill me?!" Yahiko pointed accusingly.  
"Who brought me here in the first place, Sasuke you bastard?!" Naruto also followed suit. They looked at each other. Pause.  
"Three complete morons." Sasuke walked away.  
"This actually isn't that big of a hole..."  
"Yeah, we'll get done in no time..." The trio began working again.  
  
Sakura grooooaaaned. The weight of the miso and soy were immense, not counting the rest of the things that Kaoru made her buy. She absolutely KNEW she shouldn't have offered to do Kenshin's job of shopping for supplies. And then all of a sudden it grew lighter.  
'Ah? Ugh!! Don't tell me I spilled it?! Kaoru's so going to kill me-' She thought to herself, twirling around and meeting the body of an extremely tall man, who grabbed the pole (you know the pole with two buckets system?) with one hand. Sakura looked up.  
"Help?" The man looked down on her with eyes almost completely covered in bangs. As smitten as she was by Sasuke (No! Not smitten! Dedicated! The power of true love!), Sakura couldn't help but blush deeply. The bishounen hoisted the weight onto his shoulders.  
"Ah-ah, yes! Arigatou de gozimasu!!" She was about to bow, but he stopped her.  
"...be on guard." The man warned her, scanning the area with his eyes.  
  
Aoshi understood Kenshin the moment he asked for him to find the pink haired girl. Worry does not come to the 'rurouni' if it weren't for somebody else in danger. Sakura was very easy to spot. Pink hair under alot of supplies. Eyes burned around Aoshi the moment he offered to carry the items, which even he had to use some force on. The Oniwabanshuu's former leader half followed Sakura to the dojo.  
  
"HIIII~~~!!" Misao waved at the duo rapidly. She ran, practically oblivious of Sakura, to Aoshi. "Aoshi-sama, I was looking for you all day!" I told her yet again to drop the -sama, but for some reason she still has not. A habit?  
  
Misao still wondered deeply what that glance meant whenever she said his name.  
"Ah...you're back already?" Kenshin said from behind her.  
  
It only took one glance into Battou-Kenshin's eyes to tell that relief only covered half his face. Aoshi nodded slightly, confirming Kenshin's fear. Lately, a stalker, or most likely many, were coming for shinobis, and the survivors of the Edo era. Aoshi himself was also watched closely, and Misao too.  
  
Misao watched as Aoshi, as if he didn't realize it, put an arm around her neck. After a moment's pause, she smiled to herself happily, her face going pink.  
  
A cold, piercing stare was directed right then and there. The man of the kodachis sensed it so much, yet couldn't find the source. But he didn't need to waver.  
Somebody has underestimated the kodachis of the former Oniwabanshuu leader.  
They weren't going to get Sakura. They weren't going to get him.  
...  
And they especially weren't going to get Misao. 


	4. Kenshin's Vow

It became increasingly harder for Naruto to ignore the apparent illness that Sasuke had. Kenshin had already come down with a normal flu, and was expected to get well in a couple of days. Sasuke, on the other hand, just wouldn't admit to being sick. The ninetails keeper stared as Sasuke, yet again, fell over with his buckets of miso and salt.  
"You need help, Sasuke?" Naruto teased, half snickering. He would have sworn that bastard blushed right then and there.  
"No, I'm fine." He got up yet again. Naruto sighed. It's not like he didn't see the cupboards-er, rather floors-of leftover supplies of food. What Kaoru had could feed an army. Yet still they had to buy bucketfuls of stuff, without even Kenshin to help! They just saw the dojo when Sasuke that bastard had collapsed again.  
"Sasuke, too weak to carry anymore?" The boy taunted yet again. But this time Sasuke didn't stir. "...Sasuke?" Still no answer. Naruto hastely put down his buckets, and for the first time felt a chill up his spine. It was like a gaze, a cold, hard gaze which Naruto had seen all his life. Eyes which hated. A little more on the desperate side, Naruto shook Sasuke vigorously. "Sasuke?" His lip began to tremble. "SASUKE!" Only well too aware of the cold stares, he promptly heaved Sasuke up and carried him to the dojo.  
  
Even Kakashi had to admit that Aoshi-san's tea was much better than Kaoru's. Since this wasn't exactly saying much, even he had to agree, Kakashi made a mental note to just say above average out loud instead for his own well-being as well. Aoshi-san had just helped Kakashi to his fifth cup, and the jounin was surprised at the politeness of this man. For a scarred man so hard to read, harder than Zabuza, he possessed quite a bit of etiquette. His gaze then turned to Misao. It was almost like seeing Zabuza and Haku all over again, a tamed Zabuza and a much weaker but happier Haku.  
"Kakashi-sensei!!" Came a familiar voice from outside the dojo. He opened the doors, and his eyes widened. Naruto looked about broken. "Sasuke's really really sick!!"  
Huh. Never thought he'd see Naruto supporting Sasuke, but hey, it was an improvement as the other one wouldn't cut in with a more or less stupid remark even if it killed him. Although it DID look like he was trying. Before he could take another step, Sanosuke cut in front of him, rushing towards Kakashi's two students.  
  
'Damn the guy! Damn Sasuke! How many times did I remind him how much salt weighed and how sick he was? What the hell's wrong with Kaoru? She wouldn't even let me borrow a few hundred, yet keeps buying mountains of miso!' Sanosuke paced over to the fallen boy, and, after moving the metal protector away, pressed his hand on his otouto's forehead.  
  
Sasuke's thoughts were detached and blurry. His forehead protector had been shoved upwards on his head by what seemed to be a block of ice. It pierced through his head, and cleared it momentarily.  
"Dammit, he's burning! Kakashi, prepare the bed would ya?!"  
"Don't order your elders around like that."  
"Does it look like I care?! No! Ha!"  
"...That gesture was unneeded and rude." Kakashi drawled on.  
"It's not like anyone cares! I'll do it myself then!" The ice was then removed from his head. Sasuke's eyes cleared. That wasn't ice, that was Sanosuke's hand!  
"Hmm...would he really do it himself, though...?" Kakashi thought out loud more or less to himself.  
  
"ARGH!!" Megumi's body crashed to the ground while accompanied by Sanosuke's shout.  
"Why, Sano, you should look where you're going!" She accused, and was promptly over towered by blankets.  
"You're a doctor right? You've got another patient!"  
"Sasuke, right?" Megumi sighed. The inhabitants of this place were hopeless, all of them when it came to illnesses. Sano blinked.  
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Even Megumi had to think Sano was cute when he did that.  
"He showed all the symptoms two days ago." She hefted up the blankets from the ground. "But it's hard to care for two people at the same time with different diseases. I'll need someone to help me." Her gaze followed to Sano's now slowly becoming horrified face.  
"Uh, yeah, haha, Sakura'd do that..."  
"Is he going to accept help from a girl?" Megumi inquired forcefully followed with a rap on Sanosuke's forehead, and proceeded to point to her right. "Now. Carry Sasuke over to the room Kenshin is and I'll determine the severity of his illness." Sanosuke stared at her with a rather irritated look.  
"~~~"  
  
"Sumi, he has come down." A childlike voice whispered. The other flashed a forest green sign at him, followed by an AA on a board of the same color. He immediately stopped talking, and good thing he did, because the Class A Aoshi had just swished open the doors quickly. Aoshi paused.  
  
"Hmm..I believe they must be the Colored," Kakashi said thoughtfully. There was a mild tension in the air, Kenshin in his futon, and Aoshi still looking out to the yard.  
"...We have a case on our hands." Aoshi gently closed the door.  
"From the ki-"  
"Chakra."  
"Oro, chakra, there must be seven of them surrounding here." Kenshin had never involved with the Colored before. They even used to be his ally, though he didn't pay much attention to them. They were reserved, and yet seven people were targetted-in this dojo! In Kaoru-san's dojo! He inquired who the people targetted were. Kakashi sighed.  
"Well, there's me, there's you, there's Sasuke and Sakura. That's all I know so far..."  
"Misao and I." Aoshi paused. "Sanosuke." _Now_ this made absolutely no sense. If they were just targetting the well known people, Sanosuke would have been brandished as a local town smallshot, and the two girls unknown at all. If it were all those during the major incident between Sand and Leaf, only the shinobi would be targetted. If it were those involved in the Ten Swords incident, then the shinobi would not be included at all. In fact, Aoshi was so loosely related to major incidents with Kenshin, he shouldn't have been involved either without Megumi included. Pieces which just didn't fit. And why not Kaoru?  
The men pondered, and never could they find a link. The Colored never did anything without motive.  
  
Hyuto spread out the scroll. The seven escaped to a forest, close to their home.  
"Listen. We have one S, three A, one B, two C, and one D. We, while CS and AK is sick, must assign permanently as according to strength." One of the three boys stopped him.  
"Um...what are we talking about again?"  
  
"Well, it wasn't my fault they had to come up with such confusing codenames." Sato grumbled, wagging his overly large sleeves in the air. His partner, Hina, groaned to herself.  
"Just remember the order of the strongest to weakest, S A B C D E, and the second letter is the person's first name."  
"...that's too much..." Came the whine.  
"Eh...just listen to me."  
"To a GIRL?!"  
"To the one who actually understands the system." Came the small reply. Sato growled his discontent, while Hina went back to the conversation of the rest.  
"There are only eight of us, yet eight targets including an S? Who is the S?" Another asked. Hyuto's partner replied.  
"SK was originally the Hitokiri Battousai. That is why he was our target in the first place. His mentality, from observation, is very unstable, but for now he is in a stoic mode. Although he is A, if berserked, he would become such the S, so that is why Akayo and Mizu will take care of that." The respective people nodded. One of the younger members spoke up excitedly.  
"Me! What about us?!" He, Sato was it?, waved, the girl next to him burying her face in her hands.  
"Once you are done with DS, you two shall move onto CM." Hyuto's partner replied. Hyuto looked slightly perturbed.  
"This wouldn't work out, Kumi. They aren't very good at silent killing. Sakura sleeps so lightly, once I marked where she slept and the tearing of a single leaf woke her up. Akayo and Mizu should take care of her first." Kumi stared at him harshly.  
"It must have been a coincidence."  
"We don't have the time for coincidence!" Hyuto practically seethed. "In any case, SK would be a job for us, Mizu and Akayo should take care of DS and then the shinobi AK. He, with his eye, surely must be the most dangerous at the moment, and most sensitive to sound."  
"Sharingan Kakashi of the Anbu. He will also take a pair's entire time. We can't waste time and our silent pair on a D." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Although perhaps we should switch Mizu and Akayo to him, while we take care of SK." Kumi smiled towards the youngest pair. They were two complete opposites, one with incredible strength but brashness, the other intelligent and careful. One would slice as the other cleaned up. "Alright, we'll first let you take care of CM, and if you have time, attack CS." The boy eagerly slapped his partner on the back, and she fell to the floor. The rest were assigned as appropriate.  
  
~*~  
  
"Aoshi, why leave so soon?" Rewrapping himself in his blankets, Kenshin opened the door to reveal the Aoshi who was walking away.  
"...The wind is ill, my kodachis speak of excitement." He stated, as if quoting a poem. "Someone will attack me tonight." Kenshin smiled weakly.  
"If I were not sick, I'm sure I would sense the same thing. The air is tense in here, Aoshi. Why not fight together?"  
" . . . " The man paused, and turned back. "..If I must."  
  
After Aoshi found himself a room, Kenshin laid down to contemplate. The tension was so strong that even Misao-chan had felt it, but Kaoru-san, who was undeniably stronger, had not. So it must mean Kaoru-san was not targetted. But still, there was that chance...  
The rurouni grasped his sword's hilt, and tossed into his sheets, knowing he would not sleep that night.  
'Ah...Saitou-san. I still remember the time when you told me you could've killed them if you wanted to. That I had failed. I failed then, perhaps, but this time I won't.' He tightened his grip on the sword. He whispered,  
"I promise you. Saitou-san."  
  
Late that night, the Colored waved the flag of assault. 


	5. Sakura's Vow

Wow...and guess what this is!! A review thank you section!! For everybody, including those who stopped reading the fic at chapter one!!  
  
Annachan- I love your dedicatedness!! It makes me feel so loved...3. Don't worry, you don't need to know the codenames. What do the Colored want? Uhh...I'll get back to you on that one. Sorry about the long wait, I've had some...uh problems. ^^;;  
  
purple hotagi- I plan on putting in the story of the Colored later, and you'll find out why they know them in this chapter ;). Ehh...oops, did I put Sasuke in Misao's rank? Ahahaha...let's just say that they underestimated him. Think about it, they didn't even mention Naruto...I guess it makes sense. And, uh, I'll be disregarding Sanosuke's sister and brother for now...I'll just say he remarried.  
  
Hitokiri X- I love your praise!! But...I made you wait long didn't I? *ducks* EEIIIII HELP ME SOMEBODY!  
  
Ret- Thank you thank you! I'm getting in as much as I can...it's probably one of my only active fics *sweatdrop*  
  
Ilay- Unfortunately, no, I won't be putting Saitou in. I wanted to...but it was too hard. I'll be putting references in, though ^^;;  
  
saiha- I'm not sure if you're still reading my fic, but I'll dedicate something to you anyway cuz you're one of my first reviewers. Thanks for the support, and Kenshin will oro around a lot. A lot.  
  
Hitokiri's woman- Yayyayyayyayyay!! Romance? Well, nobody's suggested anything, so I'll be putting in hints that nobody needs to catch. Yes, Kaoru IS Narutoish, no?? 3 Wait!! Don't die!! NO~~!!  
  
Lillia- Yeah...I've also been thinking about how a fight between the practically godlike characters would go. I've been wanting to continue it, but I don't think I will.  
  
Eeva Leena- Yes, I'm continueing!! Slowly...but half-surely!!  
  
pluuuu- Everybody loves Sasuke-kun! Rejoice! *does happy dance* Yay!! Someone who DOESN'T think I'm OOC!! I'm not sure it's humorous during the, uh, assault period, but it will be! Hopefully! Later!! Eeiiieee  
And that's it!! It practically makes up a quarter of this chapter, but that's okay. I don't like this chapter anyway. I tried to fit in humor at the end...but then it fused with the drama and now everything's kinda dull...  
Hina groaned. Again. What was WRONG with her partner?!  
"Makimachi Misao! I CHALLENGE YOU!" The seven year old boy pointed at her. CM looked at him with blank stare. And walked over.  
"Wai...you're such a cute kid!" Misao ruffled his hair. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Sato scowled and flapped his sleeves on top of his head.  
"GRRRRR...I'M AN ASSASSIN!! NOT SOME LITTLE KID!!" He yelled with frustration, flailing his arms towards the girl, who now picked him up and looked him over. Hina was torn between laughing and being scared. The plans were going horribly wrong. Nowhere did it say that his sleeves were supposed to look like a paddlewheel and Sato was supposed to act like a dog. It was a good thing CM was sleeping pretty far away from the rest of the targets...except...  
"Do not move, Colored." A liquid voice whispered behind them. Hina turned around, and the apricot color of her face drained away to ivory white.  
"Aoshi-sama!" Misao hastily dropped Sato onto the floor. Hina used Kawarimi and reappeared right next to the boy.  
"Sato! We have to retreat!" She shook him vigorously. Aoshi was A. Their capabilities could not match up to the man---at all!  
"NO! NONONONONO!! Hina, how could you SAY THAT?!" Sato lunged, and tripped. Hina buried her face in her hands. She felt like dieing.  
"Oh NO...."  
  
~*~  
  
It wasn't a coincidence. Sakura really did wake up on the tearing of a leaf.  
'Dammit...the pressure is building up! I'm being watched...but...this time it's a lot stronger!' She gulped, and curled her fingers around the kunai. Under such extreme...creepiness, her senses had heightened to their peak, completely unnerving the genin. Her hands started to feel damp, clamping tightly onto the weapon that she knew would definitely not be enough, in the back part of her mind.  
  
Mizu and Akayo were fraternal twins, and could always read each other's thoughts.  
'Hyuto was correct. But now what shall we do?' Akayo thought.  
'We must strike. Fast.' Mizu's eyes darted. They darted straight through the door, so fast the paper didn't make any sound. Sakura was taken aback, but wasted no time in throwing a few shurikens. They put their arms up, the metal of their arm guards clinking softly as the shurikens bounced off. They took their rapier like katanas, and moved forward in a swaying, rolling motion, fluid like water.  
"The waves of the ocean..." Began Mizu.  
"Crash like thunder beneath the sky..." Continued Akayo.  
  
A lightbulb in Sakura's mind clicked audibly. This was a famous verse in the book The History of Konoha's Alliances. She remembered reading it, for school...  
  
~*~  
  
"Sakura." Iruka-sensei had called. She stood up, and began reading.  
"The alliance with Battousai's regiment helped us to defeat the country of Sasrana, but it was rumored that the ruler of Sasrana then stood up on a mound of his own countrymen's bodies, stuck a flag on top, and started citing a poem right before he toppled over and died. This poem is still a very well known poem, renamed Sasrana's Poem.  
The waves of the ocean crash like thunder beneath the sky  
On top is our soul, cascading, our hearts that fly  
But in scarlet blood our bodies lie  
Failure of kingdom does not know revive  
Sinking so low, but we will survive  
The Country of Sasrana will yet again rise  
Like the ocean, its waves that will carry our plight  
We will not die."  
"Good, Sakura. You may sit down, and remember, you'll have a quiz on this next week!" Iruka-sensei had shouted over the ringing bell.  
  
~*~  
  
"You...are...Sasrana's survivor's, aren't you?" Sakura asked, sweat dripping down her face from her new spot on the ceiling. She needed a lot more than Kawarimi to take care of these two. It took all the Hokage and Leaf villagers to take down Sasrana's people! The duo didn't answer, but ran to her.  
"On top is our soul, cascading..." Said the boy.  
"Our hearts that fly." Echoed the other as Sakura used Kawarimi again. Dart towards the door, screamed her mind. Find Sasuke, Kakashi, and the others!  
"We are the Colored." They said in unison, and this shot through Sakura. She had to run. Now. There was a rumor that went around for a while...that the Colored were the only survivors of Sasrana. That might have been false, but they were possibly the best known assassin group. They were lethal and deadly, all of them trained to the peak of perfection. Apparently, the rumor was true, but this wasn't the worst. They were always known to kill their target the moment they finished their poem. Of course, they could kill her right now!  
"But in scarlet blood..."  
"Our bodies lie..."  
"Failure of kingdom..."  
"Does not know revive." They whispered forcefully, hushed, and too fast for Sakura. Pain was screaming through her body... their thrown kunai dug into her thigh.  
"Sinking so low..."  
"But we will survive."  
"The Country of Sarana..."  
"Will yet again rise..."  
"Like the ocean..."  
"It's waves that will carry our plight..."  
Dammit...they were on the last verse! Sakura's feet pointed to the door. She was going to find help. NOW!  
But then, a second Inner Sakura killed that one with a mallet.  
"YOU RUN, YOU DIE, YOU ****ING ****!! YOU WANT THE OTHERS TO DIE TOO?!!" It YELLED at her with as much frustration as three Kaorus.  
And it was right. She wasn't going to run. How many times had she been protected? What if Sasuke, Kakashi...and Naruto had ran? She remembered Sasuke's voice so many times...  
"Especially Naruto." "I didn't save you. Naruto did..."  
This time, she would help them in the only way she could. Haruno Sakura was NOT going to fail!  
"We will not die!" The Colored hissed in unison, coming at her with two katanas. Red blurred her vision as she shouted,  
"RUUUNNN~~~!!!"  
  
~*~  
  
"That was...Sakura's voice, wasn't it?!" Misao exclaimed. Aoshi took out his kodachis.  
"Misao! Go, now!" Aoshi shouted, his calm demeanor breaking for the first time. There was something in Aoshi's voice that made Misao obligue as quickly as possible.  
"Iyai...Class A Aoshi, Okashira of the Oniwabanshuu...you really think you can take four of the Colored at the same time?" A taunting voice came from behind him. Aoshi slowly unsheathed his kodachis.  
"The winds blow ill."  
  
~*~  
  
Naruto began to feel uneasy. Something important was going to happen, said a little tiny, and rather annoying, voice inside his head. And he knew exactly how empathetic he was. About as much as a rock. The Ninetails carrier slowly removed his blanket, and rose. His feet paddled quietly in the hallways. He didn't know why...but he felt like he needed to enter Sasuke's and Kenshin's room. The ripping of a paper door was heard, quietly but so audibly. Naruto's feet began to break into a run. He slid back the door.  
  
~*~  
  
Iruka was getting really worried. He still couldn't believe that Kakashi would take the kids somewhere for a weeks that had nothing to do with any mission. Iruka fretted, and for the not-first-time he lowered his guard. The teacher paced. And paced. And paced.  
"AHHHHHHHH!!!" A voice shouted behind him. He went,  
"AHHHHHHHH-oh, it's you!" Iruka whapped the boy gently on the head, regaining his composure. And then he lost his composure all over again. "What are you doing here? Where were you?! We sent you on the lowest spy mission possible and you don't return for weeks?!!" The boy growled up at him.  
"Hey, I resented that you sent me on such a low mission as to see what that stupid former Team 7 was doing, and now I resent that you say it's a low mission! It could have been A, if it wasn't for my great, super, talented abilities!!" The boy struck a pose. Iruka sighed. This guy...he was more prideful than Naruto! Well...at least he had backing. The boy was from the Hyuga clan, branch though his line was. You could tell he was a cousin of Neji...but it was hard to see the relation with Hinata. Then the rest of the sentence sunk in. "Wait...what do you mean, A?"  
  
~*~  
  
The paper door groaned. Its paper had been replaced again and again and again these days. Why? Why must it be so? What had the paper door done to deserve this? He watched as the main ruiner of his paper flooshed and bammed his brother abruptly. How dare they treat his brother that way! Paper doors seriously don't get any respect these days...  
"You...what are you doing here?!" He pointed, furious. Well, that guy shouldn't be furious. HE, the PAPER DOOR WHO KEEPS GETTING RIPPED, should be furious!! The intruders who ruined his body stared at the newcomer. Fine then, not even so much as sorry.  
"Do NOT interfere, little brat!" The girl hissed. The paper door watched as the veins on the dissed off boy rearranged themselves till they were about to burst. Pity they didn't.  
"DON'T CALL ME A LITTLE BRAT, YOU BASTARD!!!" The sad, wallowing paperless paper door watched as the fight began.  
Sorry everybody...I was in such a hurry to update, that I didn't edit... Please don't kill me!! 


	6. Kumi's Vow

And...another review thank you. I think I'll just do this everytime from now on.  
  
Annachan - Yay~~~ I'm glad you liked it ^^;;. Personally, I thought it was a little confusing...but FYI, the person killing its body the most is Naruto. Just to tell you :D . I liked the poem too! Even if it contradicts the humor part, but oh well. Maybe I should change that...Like Team Rocket eh...? AHH! I just had this horrible mental image of Naruto and co. having a pokemon battle with them..ah!! There goes my cool mental image of the silent duo. Keep reviewing! That's always what keeps me from turning this fic into a dead one.  
  
Dan Inverse- shank you~ :DDD  
  
Ilay - hmm...read more of it, eh? I think I'll have you waiting for a while...stupid eighth grade teachers, trying to 'prepare us for southview'. It's not like the seniors get MORE homework than we do...  
  
aku - Glad glad glad ya liked it :D!! I'm continuing as fast as I can!  
  
inuyasha girl - =DDDD I'm trying as hard as I can!! XD! Thanks for the praise!  
  
purple hotagi - Yup...that's what it seems like, right? Well...let's just say you'll find out why they're said to have been elite assassins...very soon D  
Uh...if you're talking about the person who just shouted in the last chapter...that's Naruto. It'd be amusing to see Sasuke say that but...no.  
And...that's it! Yay! Anyway...on to the story...  
This chapter is so freakin' long...Iruka talks so much, sorry minna-san...  
  
~*~  
  
Sanosuke was sprawled on the floor, which was normally semi-comfortable. Today, it was not comfortable at all. He tapped his fingers on the floor. He tapped again. Then he started a bigger tap, which we shall call trying-to-poke-a-hole-through-the-ground-with-a-finger. Megumi was fast asleep at his side. He could still remember their earlier argument...  
~  
"No...I should stay by Sasuke, right?!" He shouted at her.  
"What's the point of staying by him," she shot back. "If you're not even going to help him any?!"  
"And staying here crushing random crap is going to help him any more? Get real!" Sanosuke scoffed.  
"They are HERBS, Sanosuke! Medicinal HERBS that will reduce recovery time by one half at least!" She started to mix a variety of them.  
"But...but you have OVER TWENTY different herbs!" He looked down at the piles in disbelief.  
"I'm only using seven for the fever medicine," Megumi replied matter-of-factly.  
"What about the rest of the sixteen plants?" Sanosuke scowled.  
"ThirTEEN, Sano, in case you forgot to count." She proceeded to mix some more. "Six for headaches, and seven as a sleeping drug." Sanosuke's face twisted.  
"Why do you need that?!"  
"If he's going to put up with YOU for the night, he NEEDS IT ALL." She set out the herbs to dry. "From a medical stand point, of course."  
~  
How he hated losing at arguments. Well, that was Megumi for you. The Zanza was getting more and more agitated with each minute. It was as if something was about to just burst-  
"RUUUNNN~~~!!!" Sakura's desperate voice echoed through the dojo. He immediately got up to his feet. Megumi stirred.  
"Huh...what was that?" She mumbled, hoisting herself up with her hands. Sanosuke immediately blocked her route up with a hand. The Zanza tensed.  
"...Don't leave this room, Megumi." He whispered, and took off. She reached out her arm.  
"Wait, Sano!" She was a second too late. The dark, now empty room seemed to leer at her, its silence seeming to penetrate. She took another look at the slammed shut door, and threw the covers over herself. It was particularly unnerving.  
  
"Gr..." Naruto clutched his bleeding arm. Why didn't Sasuke wake up? HOW could that bastard not wake up?! The blonde girl's spikes of hair seemed as though they were stiff with anger. Heh. NOBODY messes with the future Hokage! Her partner was busy wrapping her wrist.  
"UGH, Hyuto, get OFF NOW!" She hissed angrily.  
Hyuto looked down on her pleadingly. "Please! You'll die of blood loss if not!" They started up a harsh argument.  
'Hey hey, are they ignoring me?' Naruto grumbled.  
  
Kumi growled, as she reluctantly let Hyuto bandage her wrist. The plans were going horribly wrong. They had barely managed to get that sleeping pill down Battousai's and the Uchiha's throats. Now...NOW this kid... this... BRAT... he was completely disrupting the plans, and CS began to stir. 'Don't awake up now!' She thought mentally. Kumi was nineteen, and thirteen of these years she had spent planning out revenge. Revenge for her country...revenge of the highest order. Yet...  
'Listen! If we don't attack NOW, all my efforts will be wasted, and so have fourteen years! Do you want that?!' She whispered angrily. Hyuto's face visibly paled, but he replied,  
"If you die, we will never be able to kill Hatake Kakashi," he looked back into her fiery eyes with his own green ones. She recoiled, and was silent for the first time. The blond idiot, unfortunately however, had picked up the conversation.  
"WHAAT?! YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL KAKASHI-SENSEI?!!" He yelled in disbelief and anger.  
'Sensei?' Kumi thought, and lowered her head. "Heh..." The voice came out low, but started to rise in volume. "Heh...hehehe..hahaHA..." She covered her face with a hand and started laughing all out. Hyuto looked at her with troubled eyes. Naruto thought she was very troubled.  
  
"What...what the hell is that...?" Sanosuke wondered out loud, and stopped. Should he go to the direction he heard Sakura scream, or the really freaky laugh down at Sasuke's place? He felt like he was wasting his time, standing in the hallway doing nothing, so he paced around quickly and pointlessly. The Zanza heard a rustle from the other side of the door that lead outside. He stopped.  
"This way, Iruka-sensei!" Came a boy's voice. A rather agitated voice groaned.  
"Not Kamiya dojo?! The spy networks lately have been bringing..."  
"Aw, you're not turning back now?" The boy whined, as two shadows flickered at the door. "I mean, you practically clawed my neck off while making me 'go faster'..."  
"Sh-Shut up! I'm not turning back!" The taller shadow now posed at the door. "I AM a chuunin, after all..." Sanosuke ducked from what he knew was coming.  
  
~*~  
  
The paper sighed. And sighed again. The little, lonely, sad scrap laid on the floor, as someone ripped through itself and its friends. They were a close, happy, and strong group of friends. It was bad enough to separate from The Roll to repair a door. Now it was a little, lonely, sad scrap of what it once was, which was part of The Roll. Two newcomers to the humble abode made of wood and kinsmen stood at the old doorway. Sanosuke looked at them with a look that he usually reserved for when that crazy demon blond and odd-haired newcomers broke through on him. Sanosuke was a nice guy. For one, he moved it and its paper friends gently to the side, even if it was only because he was trying to steal something. The paper glared angrily at the taller newcomer with a rather long scar across his nose. How dare he...he separate it from its friends! The boy with...odd eyes and spikey black hair, not unlike ripper Naruto, stared at the man in surprise.  
  
"Uh...Iruka-sensei, this kind of isn't your house, you know..." Neike looked at his teacher, sweatdrops clinging to him like suckerfish. Iruka heaved heavily, and looked at the recoiled guy who had taken several steps back. Neike sighed. That was Iruka for you, trying to parent all of his students and shoving everything else out of the way...  
"W-Who are you?!" The roosterhead shouted, in a hushed but very shocked sort of way. Then he paused. Then he leered. Then he facevaulted. "AHHH!! IT'S YOU, IRUKA-SENSEI~~!!"  
  
Iruka stared for a moment. It was Sanosuke. Sanosuke that...that...  
"You idiot! I told you that running away made you look more suspicious, but NO! NO!! Why don't my students listen to me any more?! NOW look at what you got into! Of all groups, it was the Colored!!" Iruka lost his tiny amount of control and looked like he was about to cry. "I TOLD you not to get involved in the war! I TOLD you all this NOT RANDOM CRAP, BUT STUFF YOU SHOULD have listened to! But did you listen? NO! You DIDN'T listen! If only you realized that you would get killed eventually if you joined against Sasrana, then I wouldn't have to deal with you! They would have never cared about you! You're an outcast of Konoha! THEY WOULDN'T HAVE GIVEN A DAMN!! But no!! You joined the stupid, stupid war with Sagara-san! OOHHH don't give me that look! I know you did! I saw you on the battlefield! You idiot, prancing around like it was a circus...I mean, Captain Sagara also told you not to get involved right?! Of course he did! Don't answer me, I know he would have!" Iruka shouted, and continued his lecturings.  
  
Neike looked as Sanosuke began to cringe more and more from the noise. Neike coughed loudly.  
"Um, in case you forgot sensei, we're kinda UNDERCOVER, because like, we DO need to, uh, get Team 7 out of this mess, so..." He didn't need to speak any more. Iruka stopped mid sentence. His mouth began to twitch. His eyes started to burn with a fire that even Neike was starting to be disturbed and afraid of. Iruka quickly grabbed "Sanosuke's" long jacket.  
"Listen! You remember what I told you when you came back a year after the Namari incident?"  
"Uh...ye...yeah...I do..-"  
"NO YOU DON'T YOU LIAR!! YOU DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING I EVER-!!"  
"Fine!! Agh! No, I don't!"  
"HOW COULD YOU FORGET?! HOW COULD YOU FORGET, YOU STUPID, STUPID..." He began sobbing and crouched to the ground. Sanosuke sweatdropped. He looked at Neike. Neike looked towards the scrap of paper. The scrap of paper looked at the door. The door looked back to Neike. Neike shrugged.  
"I think he's been overworked lately...you can't even see his desk underneath the paperwork," replied Neike to the unasked question. Iruka really did care too much. Especially Naruto.  
"Um...as you were saying...?" Sanosuke inquired hesistantly. Iruka regained sane crazy composure and continued.  
"It is extreme top secret ninja information that The Colored are Sasrana's survivors, and have been repeatedly trying to destroy Konoha," Iruka explained, as Sanosuke raised an eyebrow in shock. "Of course, the Hokage and the Anbu have been able to force them off, but..." He pulled out a scroll. "After news of Battousai and Oniwabanshuu and others popped up, INCLUDING you Sano, they were broken up," The chuunin looked at Sanosuke directly in the eye, his own burning with urgency. "Remember...The Colored only attack those directly related to them in some way, and Sagara, the Oniwabanshuu, our advanced clans, and Battousai..." He trailed.  
"What, Iruka?" Sanosuke asked, kind of getting the picture.  
"They were among the strongest! So of course they killed the strongest! Think, and think! Sasrana was a huge country composed of outcasts because of their advanced blood! It was a stronghold of them! If you guys killed the strongest..."  
"...man, you're in deep shit aren't you?" Neike put crudely. Iruka shot him a look. "Just helping."  
"Wait...when you said 'our advanced clans', does that include..." The answer Sanosuke got was exactly what he was afraid of.  
"Yes! Sasuke is targeted also!"  
  
Kumi drew out her weapon, a sickle shaped kodachi. With a quick flash of a hand, she flicked more sleeping drugs into the two patients. Kumi was not going to take any chances, no...no chances for today! It was a day that held fourteen years! After making sure they swallowed, Kumi sneered.  
"You...you, a fool that does not even know me, think that you will stop me? Stop me...from my revenge of fourteen years?" She looked down to her callused hands. "I have sweated, I have toiled, I have set myself to devotion of the HIGHEST ORDER for this day...and an ordinary wannabe ninja boy is going to stop me?" She blasted him back with a sharp glare. "I will KILL the Uchiha clan! That is my vow! YOU WILL NOT STOP ME!!" 


	7. Child's Vow, Colored Chase

Hmm...okay. Not as many reviews. But oh well. Less trying to make up different ways of saying thank you for me n.n;; 

Annachan- Hm, you don't like Sasuke? o.O Wow. You're really incredibly special :D It's not as funny in this chapter, because I need the rising action and so I scrapped the randomly barging-in people ideas. Well, I can promise you I'll try on the epilogue... n.n;; 

Ilay- Yeah, it's true that after awhile reading Nar/Sasu gets kinda boring, ne? I like being glomped :D It makes me feel not alone XD 

li- Yay~~~Wait...why are you grinning evilly? O.O;; Sanosuke IS awesome! Gotta love the rooster head XD 

Also, THIS IS NOT A YAOI FANFICTION, MEANING NARUTO AND SASUKE WON'T KISS EACH OTHER OR DECLARE LOVE! 

I forgot to mention that. I remember being shaky on that, but now they're just going to be closer friends, nothing MORE. DEFINITELY nothing more. 

Since it got kinda confusing, I'll put it like this: 

The Colored - Targets 

Hyuto + Kumi - Kenshin, Sanosuke 

Mizu(male) + Akayo(f) - Sakura, Kakashi 

Sasamu + Sumi - Aoshi 

Sato + Hina - Misao, Sasuke 

Also, I'm sorry it took so long...my school cranks everything up on third trimester X.x;; And I learned HTML :D! 

I also didn't edit this one either, so if they're out of character...just don't kill me. 

-Earlier- 

_"RUUUUUN~~~!!"_ A wail set off into the sky. 

Hatake Kakashi slept on. This was unlike him, his subconscious mind said. 

Kakashi felt himself get pounced on. Unusually sleepy, he mumbled, 

"O...oi...mon ami, je-" His little speech was cut off. 

_"HOW CAN YOU BE PRACTICING FRENCH DURING A TIME LIKE THIS, KAKASHI~~~?!"_ A familiar voice wailed, and Kakashi felt his shirt being grabbed and shaken vigorously. 

"Eyheyhey, Iruka, lay off a second, yes?" The jounin pushed Iruka away, and felt a wave of drowsiness sweep over himself. He promptly fell asleep. 

Iruka slapped him awake. 

And _man_, could Iruka bitchslap. 

"Did you take a sleeping drug or something, Kakashi-san?!" He growled, his hand waving in the air menacingly as if it was about to pounce again. Kakashi thought about this for a moment. Come to think of it, Kaoru's tea had this little whiff of something...that didn't smell like garlic and cloves stewed together. 

"Hmm...damn, probably," Kakashi agreed, to Iruka's surprise. Kakashi caught Iruka's surprised, disbelieving stare. "Hey, Kaoru's food ALWAYS looks funny..." 

"Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei! We don't have the time for this! The Colored are attacking right _now!"_ A boy with Hyugan eyes pointed out angrily. Kakashi's face immediately tensed. 

_'Damn, today? So that's why there was a sleeping drug in the tea...'_ Kakashi grumbled to himself as he ran to Kenshin's and Sasuke's room, as Iruka and Neike headed in the other direction. _'I knew I should've stuck to Aoshi's, but Kaoru's too scary to deny, even for me...'_

-Present time- 

Hyuto touched Battousai's face as Kumi launched her attack on the blond boy. It had always been Hyuto's dream to become a doctor, but...that dream had been cut short. A long time ago. _'....'_

The pores on Battousai's face began to sweat underneath Hyuto's pressing fingers. He shook himself out of his daze. Kumi would kill him if she ever found out he had lost himself in his own little world. _'Good...he's still fast asleep. He will wake in...about an hour. That is more than enough time to do our job.'_

He watched dully in the background, knowing just how much this didn't agree with a doctor's code--- 

~*~ 

Sumi looked up, shaking all over. Had they underestimated this man? Aoshi...he was definitely higher than A! Only Hyuto and Kumi could take care of this man... 

She shook these thoughts from her head. Her partner wanted revenge against the Oniwabanshuu, _she_ wanted revenge against them! 

"Y...o...u..." Sputtering out this word, Sumi stared at the man that held her neck. She coughed, spitting out blood. "Why...didn't you kill me?" 

"..." Shinomori glanced away. "There definitely...would be someone who is waiting for you..." He looked like he was recalling something... 

It was as if...this man was noble... 

~*~ 

- 

_Wake up. _

Wake up... 

Kenshin's mind willed him to wake up, but his body didn't respond. He could FEEL something was going on...that people needed him. 

_W a k e u p . . . _

'Gomen..! I...can't...' Kenshin wheezed. 

_ What kind of answer is that, Kenshin?! How could you be so fu- _

Shut up roosterhead. 

What?! You can't just- 

Kenshin was aware of a thud in his head. 

_ God_damn_ you- _

Kenshin felt another thud

Battousai, you've been drugged. 

...I noticed...

Battousai! Get up! 

I'm trying to my limit! But...

Are you going to fail again? 

Will you fail everyone in the dojo like you did Tomoe?! 

-

A deep, piercing voice echoed in the man's head. His eyes shot open. Kenshin watched as a boy, no older than nineteen, jumped back from surprise. 

Stopping the final blow from her weapon in the blond boy's face, Kumi let out a curse in surprise. She shot a look at Hyuto. 

"Hyuto! What's the meaning of this?!" She hissed, throwing the interference to the ground. 

"Spirited," Hyuto began, flinching from surprise. "Battousai's spirit woke him up." 

"What? 'Spirited'?! What kind of crap are you _spewing?!"_ Kumi shouted. 

"Heh...heh..." A laugh came from the beaten up kid. "Don't you know not to show your back to the enemy?!" Kumi whirled around in surprise just as the punch connected with her face. 

~*~ 

Akayo blinked, surprised. Their katana was stopped by... 

...a bamboo sword? 

Yes, there was a woman with long hair in a ponytail, who had thrust out her sword to intercept them. It took a bit of skill to do that... There was also a child, about thirteen? He held another bamboo sword...did they truly think those toys would work against the Colored? 

"Who the hell are you?" The kid demanded. There was a silence. A vein popped audibly, with a 'poing'. The woman spoke up. 

"Well, I don't care who you two are, but you won't kill Sakura-chan!" 

_'...Kamiya Kaoru, head of the dojo,'_ thought Akayo. 

_'I thought we drugged her?'_ Mizu shot a glance at Akayo, to tell her what he was thinking. 

_'...No, we drugged her tea.'_ Akayo's face turned tense. _'I feel Sumi's group has failed also. This development will cause problems...'_

~*~ 

"Girl..." A deep voice shook her shoulder. Hina peeked one eye through her fingers. She was met with Shinomori Aoshi. 

Most girls would want to be woken up by a guy like him, but just not Hina. She shrieked. 

"Heyhey, what the hell's you doing to Hina?!" An angry child's voice rung from behind. Aoshi looked back to see a kunai being thrown at him. He dodged, and stared down at the child while the weapon pierced through the wall. Hina's face broke a smile. Sato's strength was easily twenty times the strength of a normal kid his age. The girl screwed her thinking hat on(I mean, when did thoughts ever need to be shaded? A thinking cap is so useless) and thought about their situation. Sumi and her partner were the seventh strongest duo in the Colored. Hina and Sato were....twenty-third on the last count. Sumi and her partner were defeated and lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. 

....Crap. 

Much to her calculated distress, Aoshi grabbed his neck and Sato started up another one of his useless tantrums. 

"PUT ME DOWN YOU JERK!! NOW OTHERWISE I'LL KILL YOU!!" Sato did his little paddlewheel effect again. Hina groaned again. This was embarrassing. Everything was embarrassing. 

_'Good grief just kill me now...'_ Hina thought. Aoshi twitched an eyebrow and spoke. 

"How-" 

"I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU-" 

"-old-" 

"You won't get ANY information from me-" 

"-are you?" 

"DAMMI-huh?" Sato seemed confused at the question. "Err..." He counted his fingers. "...five, six?" He turned to Hina. Hina sweatdropped. She held up five fingers. "Five! Yeah...five." Aoshi thought about this for a moment. All of the assassin group were children-the remaining adults had been easy to find with the immense amount of uncontrollable power that they emitted. None of them would've had children... 

"Then you don't come from Sasrana?" 

"No..." 

"Then why did you join the Colored?" 

"..." He stopped waving around and thought about this. Aoshi waited patiently. 

"...Because Hyuto is our friend." The girl behind Aoshi spoke. Aoshi turned around. The girl, no longer crouched by the wall, continued. "He...saved us with his medicinal skills. He taught us. He adopted us. We owe him everything..." She pointed a kunai at Aoshi. "With such skill, you may have well been 'S', but..." Aoshi's eyes widened as the girl disappeared with a pop. Jutsu...? He turned back to the boy he held at the neck. Gone--- 

He was almost hit by the blow from above him! If he wasn't Aoshi, he would've cursed at his unattentiveness while recuperating. He, instead, stepped aside and watched as the boy crashed and made a hole in the ground. If he wasn't Aoshi, he'd have sweatdropped. A quick blur came near his neck, and Aoshi moved to the side, and a shallow cut was made in his neck. He touched it. No blood...but if his reflexes would've been slower... 

"Let's go! We should catch up to our real target, Sato!" The girl, landing with a 'patpat' of clothes, used the same jutsu again. Sato yelled for her to wait for him, and disappeared also. 

"Is it alright? T' just let a guy like that run around?" Sato asked. Hina shook her head. "What? Hina, ya dummy, then why are we going?" 

"Wait, _no!"_ Hina grabbed onto Sato's oversized shirt desperately. Sato paddlewheeled. 

"Let me go Hina! I'm going to ram the bastard-" 

_"Kami-sama_ this is so embarrassing..." 

"What? HEY!" 

"Listen, Sato, we aren't any good to Hyuto-niisan dead," Hina stated quietly. Sato stopped, mid-paddle. "Knowing him, he'll bury us first and Aoshi or somebody else will kill him. We better go with what we can and make sure everyone else is alright." Sato put down his arms, more so his sleeves. 

"...Yeah, we promised him...we wouldn't die here huh..." 

"Thank you Sato." 

"Just..." 

"Yes?" 

"These damn promises-" 

_"Sato!!"_

"I know, already, alright Hina?!" They ran ahead, not even knowing their target's real name. 

~*~ 

They ran away. Ran for their job. 

If Aoshi wasn't Aoshi, he would've growled. Of course they wouldn't underestimate him by that large of a degree, their target had been, must have been...Misao! If Aoshi wasn't Aoshi, he'd have cursed and thrown a tantrum. 

Aoshi, instead, ran to chase. 


	8. Crushed Vows

Back from vacation... n.n;;; 

Azi- 2 /\/\u(4 1337...X.X bu7 7|-|4|\|| Annachan- ...I think I love you more than you love my fic n.n. 

Asuka- Obsessed, weird, freaky thing...yep, sounds like my Iruka n.n;; 

This is a really weird chapter, yeah...I just couldn't write anymore battle scenes, gomen... Y_Y 

- 

Mizu dodged Kaoru's shinai in time, and thrust his kunai in that split second of decomposure. It dug deep into her waist, sending an absolute streak of pain through her body. She gritted her teeth, and reversed the shinai to attack a pressure point on the boy's neck. However, Akayo ran in and deflected the attack, allowing Mizu to roll out from underneath Kaoru's arms, and to the wall. 

"Gu-!" The woman grasped her waist, and kneeled down. 

"Kaoru!" The boy ran over, worried. 

_'...Do we have any information on this kid?'_ Mizu asked his twin mentally. Akayo shook her head. _'Hmm...probably small fry then. Although I'd hate to do this but...'_ The girl nodded in agreement. They'll just have to take hostage. The duo Kawarimiied and held fast onto Yahiko, the girl standing behind and pointing the kunai. 

"Stay back, and he doesn't die," Akayo whispered dangerously. Kamiya Kaoru seemed taken aback, but the boy...wasn't. In fact, he seemed furious, with all the veinpopping on his head. 

And Yahiko was angry. This _never_ happened before! With all those fights Kenshin got into, he was _NEVER_ a hostage! Hell, he kicked ass like no roosterhead ever kicked before! 

Staying put wasn't even an option. He quickly bit down on the kunai, which cut his mouth at the sides, and yanked it out of the weird girl's hand. He then grabbed the other ninja's shirt and headbutted him repeatedly. The girl ninja quickly thrust an uppercut at Yahiko with all her power, sending him flying out into the courtyard. But not before Yahiko tightened his grip onto the already dazed ninja and put him underneath him to cushion the fall. 

~*~ 

"You....bastard..." Kumi spat blood. Naruto grinned with pride. 

Meanwhile, Kenshin and Hyuto were going all out. Kenshin used his techniques, slashing at Hyuto with a desperate ferocity that resulted in his sickness. 

"Hiten Mitsurugi...Ryuu...shin..." Kenshin didn't have the energy to finish the sentence as he used all his energy to ram Hyuto with the reversed sword. It didn't missed its mark on Hyuto's stomach, as Hyuto hurtled across the room and broke the wall and landed into the courtyard. _'Please...get knocked out...'_ Kenshin pleaded mentally. The last thing he wanted to do was fight a boy who only came to avenge his family...Kenshin knew, absolutely knew, that deep inside him, Battousai remembered the seige of Sasrana. He had used his full force in that blow...the boy might have broken a few ribs, but he would've been alive. However, Hyuto struggled his way up again, and doubled over again to hurl. He now looked up, with a hateful sadness in his eyes. Kenshin, reluctantly, assumed battle stance again. 

"Hidden Blade Style, Dancing Wind no Jutsu!" Kumi grabbed her sickle katanas and thrust them toward Naruto. Naruto glanced at the force for a split second-it destroyed the ceiling and ground as it flew. Naruto quickly moved out of the way, hitting the ground. The katanas stopped beside Hyuto, who picked them up in haste. Kumi reached for two more, and Naruto noticed he was in the middle of four very dangerous weapons. 

Naruto also noticed he was in deep shit. 

That is, until Sanosuke magically appeared and whacked Hyuto in the back of his head. 

When Sanosuke 'whacks', it is not a 'whack', it is a 'BA-FTTTWHACK-K' that then goes 'ack ack ack' into the sky. This time, the poor medicine boy was out for sure. 

Several other things happened at once. That is what happens when you gather a bunch of people together, have them fight at a million different places, and give them all mountain destroying capabilities (Of course, it also gives the storyteller a headache). 

Yahiko was thrown bodily out of the room, while dragging the boy with dark blue hair out with him. They intercepted the path of two children seven meters away, who went 'O' and fell back from the impact. These four landed at the feet of Misao, who was following a Kakashi that freshly thrust kunais in Kumi's direction, who had already released a fury of shurikens in every direction. Aoshi, who was running and carrying the fainted body of Sumi, ran in Misao's direction and deflected all of the kunais in the vicinity up to a tree, where a Hyugan boy dropped out of and the arrow he was aiming dug into the ground as he let out a distressed 'ARGH' when he thumped to the ground. Sasuke, by this time, had woke up for fifteen minutes already, and had unleashed a fire line jutsu (Dragon Fire) the moment Hyuto picked up the katanas. He had aimed it at Kumi, who was then dragged backwards by a wounded Sasumu to avoid the kunai thrown by Iruka in the backround so the line snapped and... 

...hit the floorboard, sending it on fire!!!!! O__O (And no amount of exclamation marks can finish this sentence!!!! ) 

Friend and foe **charged** at the burning compartment after a second's pause for Sasuke to make a '=o=' face and the extremely dry wood to catch the total room on fire. Kakashi, Iruka, and Sanosuke sent their own different water jutsus at the portion of the dojo while everyone else still conscious ran forward. Most of them dodged each of the jutsus, but Yahiko and Sato got hit full in the face with a blast of water, and rocketed to the sky with the upward motion of the water, landing on the soaked yet charred roof. Kumi, who used a Kawarimi jutsu for her and Sasumu, yelled, 

_"SATO!"_ at the top of her lungs, laying down Sasumu with Hyuto and jumped onto the roof herself. She then noticed Sanosuke and Kenshin both did the same thing. She gave them a look that sent her loathings to them through the air. She then picked up the freaked out Sato and Kawarimi-ed her way back to ground, where Kakashi immediately trapped her in a cage jutsu. Noticing this, she tried with all her effort to pry the damned bars apart, but failed miserably. They didn't even budge. Kakashi walked up to Kumi, and bent down to her level in the small cage. 

"You can't break them, they're made of half my total chakra," he said cheerfully. Kumi looked at him with irritated annoyance. She could see him smiling underneath that mask...hell, she could see the heart at the end of his sentence! Oh god she had this urge to _gouge out his eyes_ and... 

Then there was a total silence. 

"Well, unexpected ending, wasn't it." The Hyugan boy blinked once he pulled his head out of the dirt. A door opened. Everyone immediately took out their weapons and looked at the intruder. 

Megumi, holding a first aid kit, looked taken aback for a moment. Of course she was taken aback, oh with what, three million knives pointing at her. However, she regained her composure and surveyed the surroundings. It was like a sadistic doctor's fantasy. Megumi placed her kit onto the floor, and took a commanding mode. And then held out her hand amiably. 

"_Lovely_ night, isn't it. But this all would be roughly about ten thousand fifty yen, just to tell you," She said. 


End file.
